We’ve had a successful 2018 at PFERD, packed with projects and new developments. Between featured articles in leading trade magazines, attending industry trade shows, and expanding our North American portfolio with the introduction of new products, we’ve certainly kept busy over the last 12 months.

With the start of the new year, we’d like to share with you some notable highlights from our 2018.

Supplier of the Year

PFERD receiving the 2017 Supplier of the Year award at NetPlus Alliance’s annual meeting.

In October, PFERD was named NetPlus Alliance’s Supplier of the Year for 2017 at the group’s annual meeting in Phoenix, AZ. NetPlus Alliance is a buying group for industrial and contractor supplies with customers across the country, and this year’s “Power of Partnership” meeting theme emphasized the importance of channel relationships in industrial strategies and long-term success.

A preferred NetPlus supplier since the group’s inception in 2002, PFERD achieved the highest results on three key performance indicators: total growth of NetPlus purchases, new distributor counts, and same-store purchase growth.

PFERD Expansion

During 2018, we enhanced our sales structure and focus by going from two sales regions to three. By realigning our sales structure to serve the West, Central, and East Regions, PFERD is able to deepen our relationships with customers with a continued focus on offering solutions that deliver optimum productivity and cost savings.

We introduced several new product offerings in North America, which were featured at the FABTECH 2018 show, with live demonstrations including:

The PFERD team attended some of the most anticipated tradeshows in the metalworking industry this year, including FABTECH 2018. FABTECH is North America’s largest metalforming, fabricating, welding, and finishing event showcasing new technology, making it an ideal opportunity to introduce our new products. More than 35,000 visitors attended this year’s show, which featured over 1,500 exhibitors.

This year, PFERD also joined Instagram, check us out (@pferd_na). Instagram is a great platform for us to share snapshots of the latest at PFERD and more, and gives us a fresh, engaging way to further connect with our audience. We’ve also been partnering with influencers such as @ZHFabrications where you’ll see interesting and creative work utilizing PFERD products. PFERD products can also be seen on Weld.com, a popular educational resource teaching proper techniques and best practices in welding and fabrication applications.

Looking Ahead to 2019

Amid all our recent exciting developments, the PFERD team would like to take this opportunity to thank each of our partners and customers. We deeply value your loyalty and support, as it is what makes our company a success and is the reason we continue to grow. We will continue to provide exceptional service to those who we work with in 2019.

We’re currently preparing for several new developments that we’ll be rolling out in Q2 of 2019, and we look forward to sharing them with you.

Continuous improvement is a major tenet of PFERD’s success. We not only seek to improve processes and products, but also the ways in which we operate. Overall, we strive to provide the best possible service to our customers.

We’ve recently realigned our sales structure to help us do just that. We’ve gone from two regions to three – with a West, Central and an East Region (see the map

John Hibbard, Regional Manager – West

below). By splitting up the territories this way, our sales staff will be able to build better relationships within their customer bases. Different regions have different needs, so we want to make sure all customers receive the attention and representation they need.

Along with this restructuring comes some exciting changes to our Sales Management Team! Our Western Region, formerly headed up by Ross Bevacqua, who has retired after 16 years of dedicated service to PFERD, is now being managed by John Hibbard. John has had a successful 23 year career in various sales and operation roles at Stellar Industrial – a longtime distribution partner of PFERD’s. John’s strong reputation in the industry and proven track record of prolonged success enable him to lead the Region with continued success and growth.

Jeff Hamilton, Regional Manager – Central

Our Central Region is being headed up by Jeff Hamilton, who was recently promoted to the position having served as Sales Territory Manager in the Mid-Atlantic area. Jeff brings several years of sales and technical experience to his new role, which gives him a keen understanding of end user and distributor needs in the metal working industry.

Don Brewer, Regional Manager – East

Don Brewer, who has been with PFERD for three years, will continue as Regional Sales Manager for the East. Don’s strong knowledge and experience in the industry, as well as his dedication to PFERD ensures continued growth and success in a newly realigned Eastern Region.

Jon-Michael Raymond – VP Sales

John, Jeff and Don all report to Jon-Michael Raymond, VP Sales, who’s leading our overall sales effort here in the US. We have a lot of exciting things in store for 2018 and know we have the right sales leadership team in place to position us for continued growth with a focus on collaborating with customers to offer the most innovative, products and solutions in the industry.

2017 was a year of growth and development not just for PFERD, but for the communities we serve. We took part in numerous events with a mission of sharing knowledge and building excitement around the US manufacturing sector.

Encouraging the Next Generation of Manufacturers

Throughout the year, we donated time and materials to students interested in welding and other industrial professions. In February we donated products and prizes for Sequoyah High School’s 8th Annual Welding Competition. The event was hosted by the American Welding Society’s Chattanooga Section and featured dozens of student entrants.

We also sponsored a SkillsUSA WorldTeam welding competitor, who placed 5th overall in the event. The WorldSkills Competition took place in October in Dubai, and a team of 11 US competitors from around the country participated, bringing home four Medallions of Excellence.

Students Take Part in MFG Day

Our support of youth in the manufacturing sector also meant hosting a Manufacturing Day event on October 6th. We had about 120 students attend our open house and career fair to learn about our different departments and opportunities. They also got to use some tools – with proper safety precautions!

Supporting Women in STEM

While extensive efforts are being made to recruit young people in the manufacturing sector, the skills gap remains a challenge. There’s the added challenge of showing young women that they can have rewarding careers in the industrial world.

Over the summer, we hired two female engineering interns to assist with key engineering projects including designing tooling molds and identifying methods to increase production efficiencies on the shop floor. Both interns added value to our team, making strong contributions during their time at PFERD.

Reaching Out to Fabricators

Toward the end of 2017 PFERD was busy preparing for and attending two major events – FABTECH and the PRI Trade Show.

PFERD Demonstration at FABTECH

FABTECH 2017 is a key platform for us to highlight the solutions and value PFERD products bring to the metalworking industry and this year’s show was a great success! At this year’s show we incorporated gamification as one of our marketing strategies with – PFERD DERBY! This was a web-based application that rewarded participants based on the number of challenges they completed. In the end, we had three top winners:

The 30th annual Performance Racing Industry (PRI) Trade Show was another high point in our year. We met with fabricators and other professionals in the racing industry to highlight our offering to this market and introduce product lines that fit well for this production niche.

Planning for the Future

As we begin the next chapter in 2018, we’re already looking forward to new opportunities for growth. Keep checking back to see what we have planned for the year ahead. And if you have any ideas for how we can get involved in your projects, let us know!

In today’s international economy, technology evolves rapidly, and trends are always changing. When a global company has employees spread out over six continents, it can be difficult to keep everyone on the same page and up to date. So how does such an established company such as PFERD keep our workers across the globe in the loop?

PFERD Headquarters in Marienheide, Germany

To begin with, even though we can trace our roots back to our founding in 1799, we have continually evolved throughout the years. We are focused on the future, with the intent of creating a legacy of success. By constantly changing with the times, we don’t have to make massive leaps forward every few years, only to fall behind by getting comfortable. We are regularly updating processes, innovate with new products and solutions, and so much more to keep our place as a leading abrasives and brush manufacturer.

Of course, even with the advent of technology such as e-mail, video chat, and conference

PFERD Employees Attend a Training Session

calling, there’s little that can replace face-to-face meetings and training. Which is why every year around February, PFERD brings its team members from around the world to our international headquarters in Marienheide, Germany for training, brainstorming, sharing best practices and getting to spend time with peers from our diverse markets. These multi-day training sessions help keep our team up to date on:

Training on new product development

New regulations introduced in global markets

The latest innovations, internal and external, that can be used to improve business practices

By having this face time with our global colleagues, we can tell them what has worked for us, and just as importantly, we can learn what has worked for them, and incorporate it into our own processes. We recently had some of our team members head to Germany for trainings, and are excited to share what we learned with the rest of our North American division.

Keep connected with us here at PFERD for the latest in grinding, cutting, surface finishing, and other metalworking solutions. You can see what we are doing through our Twitter account, connect with us via LinkedIn, and keep up on all of our latest news. You can also learn more about our company by watching our corporate video on YouTube. We are proud to have grown so much in our 200+ year history, and look forward to continuing our success long into the future.

As we head toward Manufacturing Day–a nationwide celebration of the manufacturing industry taking place on Oct. 7th—we thought you’d like to hear about how PFERD brings the goals of manufacturing day to life. One of the aims of Manufacturing Day is to inspire young people to consider a career in manufacturing.

Through our PFERD Internship Program, current college students are given the opportunity to put their classroom learning to practice. We create an atmosphere within the company that allows interns to truly learn about the career they are studying and their prospective roles. An internship allows them to gain experience and make results happen.

L-R: Andrew Oswald, Jake Pallo, Steven Snider

We spoke to our interns about their time here at PFERD. Here’s what they had to say:

Role: I have been taking assignments and performing wear testing for products. The data is used to determine the lifespan of products. I have also been helping prepare for the ISO audit coming up in December by filing and restructuring all data and information so that the audit goes smoothly.

Perks for working with PFERD: The size of the company makes it easy to see all parts of the business and the wider industry. I’m happy to have the opportunity to work within a division of a larger company.

Takeaways from being an intern: The real world is completely different from the classroom. I’ve learned how to collect data properly, compile information for future interns to use when performing wear tests, and to use tools like Microsoft Excel. I’ve gained a wider understanding of what quality and safety mean for a company, especially ISO 9000, and terminology used in manufacturing.

Because PFERD has all its functions in one location I feel I like that my work here is really adding value. I have gained more of an engineering mindset by thinking about processes differently, understanding flow charts and diagrams, and sharpening my problem solving skills. The importance of interning is immeasurable.

Role: I’ve been working on design projects such as making molds or parts of machines. I’ve also been handling issues pertaining to designs for molds.

Favorite experience: Meeting with other companies about preparing designs for machines in the future. This gives me a better idea that what we do now will have an impact in the future. Seeing new designs and what we hope to accomplish with them.

Perks for working with PFERD: It’s an intimate work environment with the duties of a bigger company. The friendly engineering aspect allows me to interact freely and have conversations with people in different departments. I would recommend this internship to a friend.

Takeaways from being an intern: Real life experience and hands on learning gives me a much better grasp on what I get in the classroom. I now feel like I have a leg up on my career because I am starting out already knowing a lot more about design.

Internship term: Jun-Dec/Jan

Andrew Oswald, Marketing Intern, Marketing Major

Role: I have been helping with the PFERD CRM customer relationship database, which helps connect and build a more personalized relationship with their customers. This way the reach-out for marketing aspects is easier and more personal.

Favorite experience: The company culture. It’s a friendly company and it isn’t overwhelming to have a good relationship with everyone here. I also like the work ethic and the attention paid to the daily details and deadlines.

Takeaways from being an intern: The real world application and work experience is extremely valuable. Being in an office before a full time position offers a view into the day-to-day functioning of a firm. Being an intern has helped me get a sense of what I’d like to do once I graduate. I would definitely praise to my friends that PFERD offers a terrific internship program. It’s a unique company in a niche industry so it’s a good opportunity to embrace a learning curve.

A single speed machine is cheaper per unit, but the overall value may not be cost effective at all!

Essentially, the abrasive cutting and grinding processes are a function of physics. With abrasive cutting, more speed means more pressure and friction. And, in some cases, faster isn’t always better. You might choose the fastest tool thinking it will get your job done more quickly, but in most cases the opposite is true.

PFERD understands the important relationship between rotational speed and efficiency. We have carefully designed our power tools based on understanding this relationship and the physics involved between the tool, the consumable, and the material.

PFERD power tools, used in conjunction with the proper PFERD consumable provide a system that delivers an optimal process rather than just a machine. With the combination of a premium-quality consumable and a power tool designed to run at the proper speed and power output, the performance and effectiveness results in a much more cost-effective overall process for the user.

As with all power tools it’s important to understand the difference between MSFS (“Maximum Safe Free Speed”, commonly expressed as “Max. RPM”) and recommended speed. With the exception of catalog 206, in which the MSFS and recommended speeds are identical , PFERD products are always listed with a recommended RPM in our TOOL MANUAL.

For grinding and cutoff operations (4-1/2” dia.), this is a perfectly acceptable speed range. However, if you then switch to secondary operation such as brushing or finishing with a coated or non-woven product, the speed of this grinder is typically too high for optimal performance.

Running products at too high of a speed can cause many problems, such as excessive heat, which can lead to problems such as discoloration and warping of the workpiece, overgrinding of the workpiece, and even failure of the product itself. With coated and non-woven products, excessive speed causes glazing of the abrasive grain, and can actually melt the non-woven material rendering it useless and possibly damaging your workpiece. Most of these problems will result in costly reworking operations.

With variable speed power tools, the user has the ability to change speeds to best match the application and provide optimal performance. With better control, time-consuming and expensive rework is eliminated leading to the best value for the end-user.

Did you know that June is National Safety Month? Although the 30 days of June are designed to raise awareness to safety while we are at work, at home, and on the roads, it is something we consider every day of the year. Controlling risk and keeping our employees and customers safe is a top-priority for us at PFERD.

PFERD’s in-house safety plan begins with the Safety Committee. It consists of team members from QC, HR, Engineering, Customer Service, and Production staff and meets at regular times to review processes and procedures and to address any concerns in the plant. The goal is to create the safest possible working conditions to protect our employees. A topic the committee discusses regularly is safety in human-machine interaction and plant security. But we don’t stop at making the workplace safe for just our own employees—we work to keep all employees safe from workplace hazards.

With a focus on people we stress the importance of health and safety of operators working across all industrial sectors. Manufacturing is a tough working environment but there are certain areas that can be addressed to improve safety. Through ergonomics, “the study of people’s efficiency in their working environment,” employers can make small changes that will drastically improve working conditions. In the application of power hand tools, creating an ergonomic friendly workplace means protecting workers from the influences of noise, vibrations, emissions, and physical stresses. Workplace injuries are the leading cause of missed work time.

By optimizing the tools workers use every day, workplace health and safety are drastically improved. Our goal is to work particularly hard to reduce the levels of dust, noise, and vibrations produced by abrasives used in conjunction with hand tools – we call this PFERDERGONOMICS and it is at the heart of PFERD’s product design philosophy and process, as well as of the primary ways we deliver value to our customers.

As a founding member of the Organization for the Safety of Abrasives (OSA), we have a commitment to make products that follow safety guidelines and offer outstanding protection of users. PFERD offers free live presentations of customized Safety Seminars for technical schools, private manufacturers and fabricators with a focus on ANSI, ISO and EN standards. The Live Safety Seminars review the proper procedures for mounting, guarding, safe speed ranges and operator practices using high speed consumable tools. It is our goal to help you make safe choices when it comes to the selection of your abrasive products.

Since 1897, PFERD has been a family-owned business that continues to look for long term solutions and quality (high value) products. By continuing the tradition of designing and manufacturing abrasives and cutting tools with the user in mind, we have gained the trust of customers throughout the world. Safety in the workplace is easier to achieve when you use the right tools!